Masks: The dark side

HE SHOWED no mercy. Take no prisoners was his absolute dictum. He was unpredictable. He was vicious with no redeeming qualities. He didn't care if the adversary was man, woman, child or beast. They were all the enemy to him. He inflicted pain without ever flinching.
And I destroyed him, but the lasting memory of the absolute villain still creeps into the dark recesses of my mind. He, obviously, did not die easily, for he raged against the night. In flashbacks, he stands there with a snarl crossing his upturned lips, defying me. The cruel eyes peering through the slits of the mask He was born in 1973 and died defiantly in 1984. However, there was one constant -- the mask.
Throughout the centuries, man has been fascinated -- sometimes fatally -- with masks. Alexander Dumas of the Iron Mask and now the Phantom of the Opera. Others have tried to rip the mask off, unsuccessfully, such as The Lone Ranger's Clayton Moore. The identity crisis remained with Moore as well as Adam West, an actor who will forever be associated with the mask of Batman.
Michael Keaton, who transformed Batman into a dark screen hero, will eventually have to deal with wearing it at some point in his life. There will be other roles, but the lasting effects of delving into the dark side of man's psyche will remain. The most awesome villain of recent times has been the Star Wars' Darth Vader. Vader was complex, but his evil was succinctly personified by the headgear.
The mask has often been associated with the so-called innocence of Halloween or a costume ball, but there appears to be a resurgence, probably due to more flexible materials, of using the masks for its original functions of changing personalities and being able to scare the bejeezers out of anyone.
Masks have been used for disguises, hiding not only the identity of the wearer, but also giving them magical powers -- for in ancient days certain masks represented gods.
For whatever the psychology, I found that the wearing of a mask changed a mild-mannered 305-pounder into a wrecking machine. It happened almost instantly on pulling it over my head. The inhibitions completely disappeared; and a sense of power overwhelmed me. Even my thought processes seemed to go awry, and I became another person -- a separate entity.
In delving into the history of masks, they seem to be divided into four categories: 1) ceremonies masks, 2) theatrical masks, 3) burial and death masks, and 4) festival masks. All these groups seem to overlap.
Many primitive societies believed the gods controlled the forces of nature; so dancers often wore masks that represented these gods. It made the wearer unrecognizable and he usually lost his own identity and became the spirit itself.
According to the World Encyclopedia, certain Pacific Northwest Indians wore masks with movable mouths and eyelids and these masks actually consisted of two or three masks. Such masks are related to the belief that some human beings had the power to change into animals and back again. Remember "shape-shifting" in the outstanding movie, Thunderheart.
The ancient Greeks used masks in their classical drama with masked singers and dancers representing gods. The ancient Egyptians put a personalized mask over the face of every mummy so the wandering soul could always find its body.
Even festival masks, used at Mardi Gras, have their roots in the spirit world.
In the oft pseudo-theatrical world of professional wrestling, grease paint is used these days as a form of disguise and intimidation (i.e. Demolition and the Ultimate Warrior), but it's only a decade or two ago when the grunt 'n' groaners were able to carry out their treachery by wearing masks.
I certainly noticed the difference in strength between trying to perform with a mask on, and one without. Two separate entities: good and evil.
When trying to divest myself of the wrestling persona in 1984, I had to perform a death ritual with the mask. He didn't want to be discarded into the fire or thrown away on a garbage heap. He had tentacles trying to reach up and tear at my soul, my spirit -- but, once those tentacles were severed, I became more civil.
Another area where they are prevalent is in the hockey arena with today's goalie masks resembling Indian masks. Bob McMichael of the McMichael Collection, once told a Toronto newspaper: "It doesn't take much imagination to see it. The Indians' religious ceremonies took place in the longhouses as the spectators watched the soultender do his ritual dance in the light of the fires.
"Now we have the goalie, the ritual dancer, and the longhouse has become an arena seating 20,000, maybe more. And the lights of the longhouse have become the blazing lights of the arena."
Although hockey players rarely talk about such aspects of the game, goalies know better than to trifle with the spirits. If they wish, they can destroy you, wipe you out for no reason at all. One-time goalie Gilles Gratton, who wore a lion mask because Leo was his zodiac sign, used to roar fiercely -- assuming the persona of the mask.
"Since the eyes are the mirror of the soul, when these are hidden, even partially, by a mask, then the person wearing the mask can act differently and the person looking at him is greatly affected," explained Winnipeg psychologist Dr. Garry A. Corbett, president of CARP, the Canadian Association of Rehabiliation Professionals)..
"You see actors on stage project someone else by wearing a mask, whether it is a facial mask or different clothing or maybe even sunglasses," added Dr. Corbett. "Halloween is a prime example of role playing. People are able to put on makeup or masks and do things that they normally wouldn't do."
Scary.
(Kaye Corbett appeared as 'The Viking' in the 1982 Disney movie, 'Running Brave.')